The Whole World
by LosingInTranslation
Summary: Charlie is struggling through one of the most important tests in his life. Charlie/Zoey


**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!  
**RATING:** T - Teen  
**PAIRING:** Charlie/Zoey  
**WORD COUNT:** 1372  
**SUMMARY:** Charlie is struggling through one of the most important tests in his life.

**A/N:** I've got several tiny little story ideas floating around in my head, and they were all triggered by my crossover fic. This is only the first in what is likely to be a series of stories related to that crossover. You won't need to read the crossover to understand any of them, I'm just letting you know they are related.

**REVIEWS:** Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

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Completely surrounded by books, study guides, notes and not one, but two laptops, Charlie began to look more like the Unabomber on a mission to destroy modern society than an up and coming law school graduate. He flipped pages of text like machine gun fire. He rifled through pads of notes on a hunt for buried treasure. And he scrolled through countless articles of law as though the answer to life itself could be found in endless pages of the cyber world.

This was war.

This was the bar exam.

With less than twenty four hours until he sat down to take the New York State Bar, Charlie was feverishly trying to cram as much information into his brain as inhumanly possible in the few remaining hours. He had been studying, non-stop, for weeks.

He arrived in New York a full week before the test to make sure he was prepared for anything they could throw at him. His route to the test office was perfectly planned; all contingencies accounted for, all materials ready and waiting and tested for performance and eligibility. The only things left to do were study and make it to the exam in one piece.

Twenty one hours and thirty eight minutes left until the test and he was still unsure about the New York statutes on the Rule Against Perpetuities. There were so many exceptions and modifications, and they kept getting mixed up in his head. If he could just find a clear definition of the rule and a listing of all the exceptions to memorize, he could keep it straight.

He stumbled across another study help site, and was sure the answers contained there would help him through the next eighteen hours and fourty two minutes. Just as he was becoming fully engrossed in the mountains of information found on that site, his attention was dragged back to reality when a grape bounced off of his keyboard and switched the page.

Looking up, he growled, "What the hell?!"

"I thought you looked hungry." Charlie looked upon the devilish face of his girlfriend as she popped another grape into her mouth. He glared at her and groaned before going back to the study help site.

With seventeen hours and twelve minutes to go before the exam, Charlie tried to concentrate on the material in front of him, but the deep and incredibly audible sighs coming from the bed were hard to ignore. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, you remembered I was here?" Her tone told him just how annoyed she was, but he just did not have the time to deal with it.

"Zoey, I've got to study." He looked once more at his watch. "I've only got seventeen hours and three minutes left before the exam. I can't waste it right now." As soon as the words left his lips he knew they were a mistake.

"A waste of time…" Zoey sat up in the bed and turned away from him. She was just getting ramped up and he knew it. Clutching his forehead and covering his eyes, he waited for the fireworks to begin. "Wow, that's a real great way to talk to the person who gave up a rather prestigious presentation at the Italian Literature Symposium to keep you company and help you study for a week, holed up in a crappy hotel room in New York."

"Zoey, that's not what I meant. And you know it." He felt awful for saying it, because she was right. But he was feeling the pressure of the exam the closer it got. "I just-"

She stood in front of him, hands on her hips and dared him to justify his response. "You just _what_?"

"If I don't pass this bar, it's over. All that time, all that school, all that money, for nothing." He had been thinking it for months, but it was the first time Charlie ever dared to let the words slip off his tongue. "And then what do I do?"

Without a moment's hesitation, she simply rolled her eyes and said, "Duh, you take it again."

"Zoey, it's not tha-"

"Just shut up and listen to me, please?" She waited, not so patiently, for him to nod in agreement. "So, what if you don't pass the first time? New York is the hardest exam there is, and not a lot of people pass it the first go round. So, if you don't pass it now, you take it again in July, big deal." She walked around the hotel desk, pushed Charlie away from the computers and books and notes to sit in his lap. With her arms around his shoulders, she looked into his eyes and said, "It's not the end of the world, Charlie. You've already passed the Maryland Bar, your D.C. admission is pending, and you've got a great job. Passing the New York Bar is just another step, it's not the whole mountain, so stop acting like _this_ is the end of the world."

His hands automatically found her waist and he sighed. Right there in his grasp was the whole world and he was a fool for missing it. He shook his head to show she was right, once again, and asked, "Okay, if you're so smart, then what _should_ I be doing right now?"

Zoey raised an eyebrow in careful thought, screwing her mouth up in a way that always made him smile on the inside, before delivering her answer. "Yooooou…should be taking your girlfriend out to lunch after a nice walk and then spending the rest of your-" She stopped to turn around and pick up his watch from the desk. "Fifteen hours and fourty nine minutes… allowing enough time for a shower and the trip to the office, of course… in between the sheets of _that_ bed getting the best study aide you could possibly imagine."

**_TWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWWTWW_**

Charlie arrived at the exam in plenty of time, with all of his materials organized and readily available to him. He had a few minutes to wait before they opened the doors after checking in with the examiner. As he poured himself a cup of water from the bottle in the corner, one of his Georgetown classmates found him.

"Hey, Charlie!" The man clasped his hand and slapped his back with the greeting. "Long time no see, man. I didn't know you were shooting for the NYC, we could've studied together, just like old times."

"It's kind of a thing, for being able to work out of the U.N., they want people to have the New York Bar." Charlie remembered the man as a little more talk than action, and suspected he was either following divorce law or worse, ambulance chasing.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Mr. International, isn't that what they called you?" Charlie cringed at the reminder, and it confirmed his suspicions; ambulance chaser. "Well, hey, you know what they say… Not everybody can pass this one right out of the gate. It's my second go round, too. I was this close last July, but here I am again. Thankfully, my firm has a lot of work to keep me busy until I pass the bar. You know how it is; people are always getting hurt, right?"

Charlie just shook his head, but in his mind he was rolling his eyes. "Yeah, well, this is my first time for New York. I took the Maryland Bar last July, and my admission is pending in the District." He probably should not feel such satisfaction sticking the knife in like that, but the guy was an ass, and it felt really good proving it to him.

"Oh. Well, hey, good for you, buddy." He could feel the disappointment in the man's words, and that felt good, too. "That explains why you look so relaxed. Not too many guys come in here looking like they have the whole world at their feet like you do, Charlie."

He grinned at the man's compliment, but Charlie felt the need to correct him. "It's not at my feet, Phil…" Breaking out with a full smile, he patted the man on the shoulder and started to walk away. "It's waiting for me back at the hotel."


End file.
